Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu Named Curators of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2027

"La Biennale di Venezia has announced that architects Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu will curate the 20th International Architecture Exhibition, opening in May 2027. Founders of Amateur Architecture Studio and leading voices in contemporary practice, the duo is known for an approach rooted in craftsmanship, material reuse, and deep engagement with place. Their appointment brings renewed attention to vernacular knowledge, construction cultures, and the social realities shaping architecture today."

"Established in 1997, Amateur Architecture Studio has become synonymous with a practice grounded in local memory, manual techniques, and the reuse of traditional materials. Alongside their built work, Wang and Lu have played a key role in architectural education in China, founding the Architecture Department at the China Academy of Art in 2003 and later the School of Architecture in 2007. Their projects-often described as mediations between past and present-foreground recycled materials, ordinary structures, and the ingenuity of artisans, advancing an architecture that emerges from its context rather than overriding it."

"Their relationship with the Biennale dates back nearly two decades: they participated in the China Pavilion in 2006, received a Special Mention in the 2010 exhibition curated by Kazuyo Sejima, and returned in 2016 under Alejandro Aravena's direction. Among their notable works are the Ningbo Historic Museum, the Xiangshan Campus of the China Academy of Art, the Tiles Hill in Hangzhou, the Renovation of Wencun Village, and the Fuyang Cultural Complex. In 2012, Wang Shu became the first Chinese architect to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize."

"In their acceptance statement, Wang and Lu expressed concern over contemporary architectural trends "driven to extremes" and detached from real conditions, warning that such tendencies "will lead to the death of architecture." They instead advocate for "a simple and true concept and method of architectur"

Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu will curate the 20th International Architecture Exhibition in May 2027. They founded Amateur Architecture Studio in 1997 and center their practice on craftsmanship, material reuse, local memory, and manual techniques. They founded the Architecture Department at the China Academy of Art in 2003 and the School of Architecture in 2007, shaping architectural education in China. Their projects foreground recycled materials, ordinary structures, and craftsmen’s ingenuity to produce architecture that emerges from context. Their long Biennale history includes participation in 2006, a Special Mention in 2010, and a return in 2016. Wang Shu received the Pritzker Prize in 2012. They warn against trends detached from real conditions and call for a simple, true method of architecture.

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